Sandals with flexible arch support



April 19, 1960 G. E. MUSEBECK ETAL 2,932,911

SANDALS WITH FLEXIBLE ARCH SUPPORT Filed March 14, 1958 H Y'TORNEV-F-United States Patent SANDALS WITH FLEXIBLE ARCH SUPPORT George E.Musebeck, Oconomowoc, and John C. Boehm, Nashotah, Wis, assignors toMusebeck Shoe Company, Oconomowoc, Wis., a corporation of IllinoisApplication March 14, 1958, Serial No. 721,437

2 Claims. (CI. 36-85) This invention relates to improvements in sandalswith flexible arch support, and more particularly to sandals with abuilt-in arch support.

A general object of the invention is to provide a novel sandal structurewherein the strap ends are firmly secured to the sole portion of thesandal in a manner whereby there are no bulges or protrusions to causediscomfort or injury to the foot.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sandal wherein a novelarch support is employed which is shaped and positioned to support thecuboid bone and the inner arch of the wearers foot, said arch supportbeing arranged to aid in anchoring some of the strap ends in position,and there being common means for securing the arch support and strapends to the intermediate and inner soles and for securing the lattertogether. A further specific object is to provide a sandal structurewherein the arch support and the sandal strapends are separately as wellas jointly secured to the sole, thereby providing an economical andhighly effective means of assembling said sandal.

With the above and other objects in view, the inven tion consists of theimproved sandal structure, and all of its parts, combinations, andmanufacturing steps, as set forth in the claims, andall equivalentsthereof.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating onecomplete embodiment of thepreferred form of the invention, in which the same reference numeralsdesignate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved sandal in assembled condition;

Fig. 2 is a side View of the sandal;

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view looking at the underside of theintermediate sole, before the arch support is mounted thereon, andshowing the location of the sandal strap ends in their respectiverecesses;

Fig. 4 is a similar view after the arch support has been secured andstitched thereon; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken online 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the upper consists of aplurality of straps, including a heel strap and instep straps 11, whichdiverge from common rear side straps 12 having lower tab ends 12" whichare attached to the sole portion of the sandal in a manner to behereinafter described. There are also toe straps 13 each of which is acontinuation of converging side straps 14 and 15 on each side of thesandal. Said straps are formed of leather, or other suitable material,and there are the usual buckle fasteners 21 and 21. The side straps havelower tab ends 14' and 15' which will be hereinafter referred to.

As is best seen in Fig. 2, the lower portion of the sandal comprises aninner sole 16 of leather or other suitable material, an intermediate ormid-sole 17 preferably of rubber or composition material, and an outersole 18 including an integral heel portion 18, which outer sole may beof rubber or composition rubber. A further element is an arch supportingWedge 20 positioned between the outer sole 18 and intermediate sole 17directly beneath the arch area of the foot, which wedge is an importantfeature of the structure.

The inner sole 16 has a plurality of slots 19 therethrough adjacent andparallel to the lateral edges, which slots are adapted to receive theends of the straps 12, 14, and 15. Said strap ends or tabs aredesignated by the numerals 12, 14 and 15' and, after being projectedthrough said slots, are bent inwardly against the underside of the innersole and glued in position. The intermediate sole 17 has cut outportions adjacent and extend lug laterally inwardly from said verticalslots 19, as at 22, (Figs. 3 and 5), to provide recesses for thereception of said strap ends. As will be readily appreciated, thepositioning of the strap ends 12', 14' and 15 within the out outportions or recesses 22 permits said strap ends to lie flush with thesurface of said intermediate sole, as the material of the strap ends hassubstantially the same thickness as the intermediate sole, as is shownin Fig. 5.

Heretoforeit has been common in the manufacture of sandals to have thestrap ends merely inserted between the innersole and outersole of thesandal, with the result that said ends caused bulges or protrusions toform in the top surface of the innersole. Such protrusions are a sourceof considerable discomfort and annoyance to the individual wearing thesandal and may even cause serious callouses. In the present invention,however, the positioning of the strap ends within the intermediate solerecesses, as aforesaid, prevents the formation of such protrusions.

After the strap ends 12, 14 and 15' have been adhesively fixed to the[underside of the inner sole 16, the arch support 20 is cemented to theunderside of said intermediate sole 17, in the position illustrated inFig. 4, where it may be seen that the wedge locks the tabs 15f and 12 intheir recesses.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the inner sole 16, intermediate sole 17, andarch support 20 are next permanently joined by common means, which isthe line of stitches 23. As will be noted, in addition to securing saidelements together, the stitches 23 also provide additional anchoringmeans for the strap ends 12', 14, and 15' as the line of stitching isarranged to pass through all of the tabs a short distance inwardly fromtheir end edges as is shown in Fig. 4. Thus the strap ends arepositively locked against pulling loose. This latter feature is veryadvantageous and forms an important element of the present invention. Itis apparent that the stitches 23 cooperate with the adhesive initiallyemployed in securing the strap ends against the inner sole and provide adual anchoring means which is unusally strong and reliable. With thepresent invention, the possibility of the sandal straps being pulledloose is virtually eliminated. In addition, the mounting of the archsupport 20 over the strap ends 12' and 15 aids in maintaining said strapends within the recesses 22, and avoids the formation of annoyingprotrusions on the innersole, as aforesaid.

In manufacturing the sandal comprising the present invention, the finalstep is the attachment of the outer sole 18, which may be done in anyconventional way such as with cement.

The arch support 20, briefly described above, is designed to extendbeneath the entire arch area of the foot, and is formed of leather, orother suitable material. As will best be seen in Pig. 5, the supportingwedge is relatively thick at 30 below the inner longitudinal arch and isbuifed down both forwardly and rearwardly to provide thin front and rearedge portions 31 and 32. In addition, the relatively thick portion 30 istapered toof the invention will suggest themselves.

ward the outer arch as at 33 in Fig. 5. Thus, a special support isprovided for the cuboid bone of the foot,

which bone is the keystone of the vital transverse or outer foot arch.

' As will be readily appreciated, the specially shaped arch supportemployed in the present invention has addition, said arch supportprovides support for both the outer arch and inner longitudinal arch ofthe foot, thereby afiording a solid foundation for the vital bonestructure of the foot.

From the ,foregoing description, it is believed that the constructionand advantages of the present invention will be readily understood andappreciated by those skilled in the art, that many modification andvariations It is to be understood, however, that the invention is toinclude all devices and structures as may come within the spirirt andscope of the appended claims, and is not to be limited to the specificdetails and form described above.

What we claim is:

1. In a sandal having an upper which includes a plurality of straps andhaving an innersole with a plurality of slots adjacent its lateral edgesthrough which ends of said straps extend, an intermediate sole attachedto the underside of said innersole having cut out portions incommunication with and extending inwardly from said slots, said strapshaving their ends inturned and united to the undersurface of saidinnersole Within said intermediate sole cut out portions, the thicknessof said strap ends being no greater than the thickness of saidintermediate sole, an arch wedge of flexible material secured to theunderside of said intermediate sole in a position overlapping some ofsaid strap ends and maintaining the same within said cut out portions;common stitching securing said arch wedge, intermediate sole andinnersole together, and passing through all of said strap ends; and anouter sole secured to said arch Wedge and intermediate sole over saidstitching.

2. In a sandal having an upper which includes a plurality of straps,some of which have lower ends adjacent to but forwardly of the rear endof the sandal; and some of which have lower ends below the forwardportion of the shank part of the sandal, and said sandal having aninnersole with a plurality of slots adjacent its lateral edges throughwhich ends of said straps extend; an intermediate sole attached to theunderside of said innersole and having cut-out portions in communicationwith and extending inwardly from said slots, said straps.

having their ends inturned within said intermediate sole cut-outportions, the thickness of said strap ends being substantially equal tothe thickness of said intermediate sole; an arch supporting wedge offlexible material secured to the underside of the shank portion of saidintermediate sole and extending thereacross, said wedge being of suchlength and so positioned as to cover at least 7 part of those strap endswhich are adjacent the rear of the sandal and at least part of thosewhich are below the forward portion of the shank part of the sandal toencompass the same between said wedge and innersole and maintain themwithin said cut-out portions, a line of stitching spaced a substantialdistance inwardly of the margin of the sandal and extending on bothsides thereof and securing said wedge, intermediate sole, innersole, andencompasssed strap ends together; and an outer sole secured to said archsupporting wedge and intermediate sole over said line of stitching.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS921,602 Farrell May 1 1, 1909 1,652,034 Mayers Dec. 6, 1927 1,701,839Diveley Feb. 12. 1929 2,238,274 Lyness .Apr. 15, 1941 2,322,297 JalbertJune 22, 1943 2,366,323 Fried Jan; 2, 1945 2,588,061 Vesely M21114, 19522,616,190 Darby Nov. 4, 1952 2,642,677 Yates June 23, 1953' FOREIGNPATENTS 612,411 Great Britain Nov. 12, 1948 792,243 France Oct. 14, 1935969,624 France May 24, 1950

